An electrical connector currently available on the market includes a body, a through hole and a plurality of terminals. The body extends forwards to form a tongue. The tongue is long and thin, and is formed with a plurality of receiving slots side by side. The through hole is located at a front portion of the tongue and formed through upper and lower surfaces of the tongue. The through hole is disposed transversely in the tongue, and in communication with all the receiving slots. The terminals are respectively disposed in the receiving slots.
During assembly of the electrical connector, first, a terminal group is provided. The terminal group includes the terminals and bridging portions each connecting neighboring two of the terminals. The bridging portions are arranged in a row on the terminal group. First, the terminals are disposed in the receiving slots, so that the bridging portions are exposed in the through hole. Since the bridging portions are arranged in a row and exposed in the through hole, a jig may be used to break the bridging portions through the through hole, so as to separate the terminals respectively.
Since the through hole is formed through the tongue, the through hole is in transverse communication with all the receiving slots, and the number of the through hole is one, the strength of the tongue cannot be maintained easily. Especially when the tongue is mated to a socket, the tongue needs to be inserted into a mating cavity of the socket. At this time, a force is applied to the tongue unevenly, and since the tongue is long and thin, the tongue may be broken from two sides of the through hole.
Moreover, during assembly of the electrical connector, that is, in the process of installing the terminal group into the receiving slots, since the bridging portions are arranged in a row on the terminal group, the distance between other portions of the terminals, that is, between portions without the bridging portions, cannot be maintained easily, resulting in a deviation in the distance between the terminals.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.